Parental engagement and the impact on the
education system
Mike Briscoe, Director, Institutions, Becta
Janice Bernard, Headteacher, Perins
School, Alresford, Hampshire
BETT 08
Wednesday, 9 January 2008
This seminar will introduce:
• The importance of parental engagement
• Indications of impact - and what parents say
• Recent developments including the Children’s Plan
• What it means in school
• Improving what we already do in school
• Moving to real-time reporting
• What needs to happen and when
• What is available to assist and how to find out more
The Parents’ Premium
• Parental involvement in a child’s schooling between ages 7 and 16 is a
more powerful force than family background, size of family and level of
parental education (Feinstein, L & Symons, J. Oxford Economic papers,
51 (1999))
Effects of parents/Effects of schools:
Achievement
Parent effect
School effect
Age 7
0.29
0.05
Age 11
0.27
0.21
Age 16
0.14
0.51
What is it that makes a difference?
A father’s interest in a
child’s schooling is strongly
linked to educational
It is the ‘at-home’
outcomes for therelationships
child;
and
(Hobcraft. CASE briefing Novmodelling
1998)
of
aspirations which
play
Very
high parental
the major part interest
in impactis associated
on school outcomes.
with better exam
(Desforges 2003)
results than for
children
Pupils’
achievement in the
whose parentsschools
show no
where the impact
interest
of
(NCDS 1999)
parental involvement
was [judged They
to be][parents] should be
supported… providing the
outstanding had clearly
results of periodic
improved. (Ofsted
2007)
assessments for parents in
an easy to understand
format, such as using
‘traffic lights’ to indicate
children’s understanding of
key concepts
(2020 Vision: recommendations)
What is it that makes a difference?
A father’s interest in a
child’s schooling is strongly
linked to educational
It is the ‘at-home’
outcomes for therelationships
child;
and
(Hobcraft. CASE briefing Novmodelling
1998)
of
aspirations which
play
Very
high parental
the major part interest
in impactis associated
on school outcomes.
with better exam
(Desforges 2003)
results than for
children
Pupils’
achievement in the
whose parentsschools
show no
where the impact
interest
of
(NCDS 1999)
…It’s what parents do
rather than who they
are that counts
parental involvement
was [judged They
to be][parents] should be
supported… providing the
outstanding had clearly
results of periodic
improved. (Ofsted
2007)
assessments for parents in
an easy to understand
format, such as using
‘traffic lights’ to indicate
children’s understanding of
key concepts
(2020 Vision: recommendations)
What parents say
(Parents’ Involvement in Children’s Education survey 2007)
• 57% would like to be updated termly or more often
• 79% would find web access to reports on their child very or quite
appealing
Using technology in schools
(Harnessing Technology review 2007)
“Technology enables the achievement of productive time efficiencies
most where it is embedded effectively across the institution. Teachers
report time savings using technology in lesson planning and lesson
delivery. However, overall, evidence suggests that efficiencies from
technology relate mainly to quality improvement for the same
resource input and improved use of practitioner time, rather than
significant time savings.”
Parents will be contacted by a staff member at
secondary school before their child starts at the school;
Parents will be able to attend information sessions at
the new school;
Every child will have a personal tutor who knows them
in the round, and acts as a main contact for parents;
Parents will have regular, up-to-date information on
their child’s attendance, behaviour and progress in
learning;
Parents Councils will ensure that parents’ voices are
heard within the school;
Parents’ complaints will be managed in a
straightforward and open way.
Department for Children,
Schools and Families
The Children’s Plan
Building brighter futures
Presented to Parliament
by the Secretary of State for
Children, Schools and
Families
by Command of Her Majesty
December 2007
Parents will be contacted by a staff member at
secondary school before their child starts at the
school;
Parents will be able to attend information sessions at
the new school;
Every child will have a personal tutor who knows them
in the round, and acts as a main contact for parents;
Parents will have regular, up to date information on
their child’s attendance, behaviour and progress in
learning;
Parents Councils will ensure that parents’ voices are
heard within the school;
Parents’ complaints will be managed in a
straightforward and open way.
Department for Children,
Schools and Families
The Children’s Plan
Building brighter futures
Presented to Parliament
by the Secretary of State for
Children, Schools and
Families
by Command of Her Majesty
December 2007
“Parents will have regular, up to date
information on their child’s attendance,
behaviour and progress in learning;”
• By September 2008 all secondary schools will be expected to
provide information to parents covering achievement, progress,
attendance, behaviour and special needs, on a timely and frequent
basis – this should be at least once per term.
• By September 2010 all secondary schools will need to offer parents
real-time access to this information (including the opportunity for
secure online access) wherever they are and whenever they want.
• Primary schools must also meet the basic requirement by
September 2010 and the real time requirement by 2012.
Janice Bernard, Perins school
•
Every learner wants to do well
•
I want all my children to do well
•
We need all our parents involved
•
All of us want to talk about what
matters – when it matters
Learner
Parent
School
Parents – improving engagement
Exploit the development of new technologies so that a better
shared understanding of children’s progress contributes to
improved outcomes
All parents should have the confidence and knowledge to
engage with their child’s school as an equal partner
Parental engagement – serious improvement in reporting to
parents to raise the quality of dialogue between learners,
parents and teachers (real-time reporting)
Learner
Access from
home
Home and
course work
Access to
resources
Access to
materials
Community
information
Parents
resources
Parent
Email
exchanges
Parent and
learner days
Online
reporting
Mobile ‘phone
alerts
SMS
texting
Electronic
reports
School
Real-time access,
reporting and dialogue
Access from
home
Home and
course work
Access to
resources
Access to
materials
Community
information
Parents
resources
Email
exchanges
Parent and
learner days
Online
reporting
Mobile
‘phone alerts
SMS
texting
Electronic
reports
Learning
Platforms
Real-time access,
reporting and dialogue
Aspirational
and
innovating
Coherent and
embedded
Moving in a
number of
areas
MIS
Developing
new
approaches
Absolute basis of reporting
supported by ICT (MIS)
Little in place
2010
Learning
Platforms
2012
Real-time access,
reporting and dialogue
Aspirational
and
innovating
Coherent and
embedded
Moving in a
number of
areas
MIS
Developing
new
approaches
Absolute basis of reporting
supported by ICT (MIS)
Little in place
A range of support to help schools including:
• influential research papers and education reports on the subject
• a growing and categorised resource base - experiences of a wide
range of schools
• online, real-time experiences of others through blogs written by
teachers
• set reporting in the wider context of school development
• self audit support - assess your school’s readiness for real time
reporting and determine priority areas for attention
• access to tips, ideas and resources to help
For more information:
Visit us on Stand J40 – National Hall
Visit us online at http://www.becta.org.uk